James McClean was the hero as the Republic of Ireland secured a tense 1-0 victory over Wales in a shoot-out for a World Cup play-off spot at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Wales dominated possession but, in the absence of injured star forward Gareth Bale, lacked conviction in the final third and saw their 10-match unbeaten run in competitive home fixtures brought to an end by McClean.

Although top spot in Group in D was not out of reach for either side before kick-off, Serbia s 1-0 victory over Georgia gained them automatic qualification to Russia 2018 and forced Martin O Neill s side into the play-offs.

Chris Coleman s men appeared to be in control from kick-off but struggled for creativity after a blow to the head resulted in Joe Allen being substituted before ha…

Competition: Premier League
Market: Gotze to join Liverpool
Odds:

Bayern Munich playmaker Mario Gotze could be on his way from the Allianz-Arena this summer after reportedly being told he can leave the club. The German international has suffered from a lack of game time with the Bundesliga champions, and has been linked with Liverpool, managed by his former Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp.

As a result, Gotze might be genuinely considering a change of scenery following a failed spell at the Allianz, and Klopp has been very coy when asked if there’s interest between the parties. The Liverpool manager would certainly try to bring Gotze to Anfield, but the decision would lie on the midfielder to either make the switch to England or fight for his place in G…

Zlatko Dalic hopes Luka Modric will be named the best player at the 2018 World Cup as it will mean Croatia have done something significant in Russia.

Modric has been widely praised as one of the standout performers from the group stage, having inspired his side to take nine points out of nine against Iceland, Argentina and Nigeria.

All eyes will be on the Real Madrid midfielder again on Sunday, when he does battle with Denmark star Christian Eriksen in the last-16 clash in Nizhny Novgorod, where he scored a stunning goal in the 3-0 win over Argentina.

With Jorge Sampaoli s side having lost 4-3 to France in a thriller on Saturday, the Golden Ball won by Lionel Messi back in 2014 is now almost certainly set to end up in different hands.

And Dalic thinks Cro…

AFC Bournemouth have signed Chelsea defender Nathan Ake on loan for the 2016-17 season.

Ake spent the previous campaign at Watford, making 28 appearances as the club maintained their Premier League status and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

The 21-year-old, who signed a five-year contract with Chelsea last year, will bolster Eddie Howe s defensive options at the Vitality Stadium following the departures of Sylvain Distin and Tommy Elphick.

We are delighted to welcome Nathan to AFC Bournemouth, chief executive Neill Blake said in a statement.

For a player of his age he already has great experience in the Premier League and we believe he will bring a lot to our squad.

He is an international player with great pedigree, so we are really exci…

Rosenborg left-back Jorgen Skjelvik has agreed on a deal with the MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy and will continue his professional career in the United States of America, has reported.

The 26-year-old Norwegian defender has been with Rosenborg his 2013 transfer from Kalmar and has racked up well over 100 league appearances for Norway heavyweights during the last four years.

Skjelvik made 21 appearances in the Norwegian Eliteserien this season whereas he also notched 7 Europa League outings for his club.

Rosenborg defender was removed from the first team earlier this season due to his agents’ disagreement with the club management but he was later reintroduced by coach Kare Ingebrigsten.

Jorgen Skjelvik’s contract with Rosenborg runs out at the end of t…

Swansea City have secured the services of Fernando Llorente from Sevilla for an undisclosed fee.

The Premier League side confirmed on Friday that the 31-year-old has signed a two-year deal at the Liberty Stadium and been handed the number nine shirt.

Swansea were desperate to sign a new striker following the departures of Eder, Alberto Paloschi and Bafetimbi Gomis and have now found their man in Llorente.

The Swans new signing could make his debut as early as Saturday s home friendly against Rennes.

Llorente joined Sevilla from Juventus in August 2015, but scored just four times in 23 LaLiga appearances and has therefore been allowed to move on again.

We are delighted to announce the signing of .

— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOffi…

Everton are looking at Rangers manager and Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard as a possible candidate to replace Real Madrid-bound Carlo Ancelotti, according to . The report has claimed that Ancelotti is on the verge of leaving Everton and will return to his former club Madrid to replace the already-departed Zinedine Zidane.

The Premier League club are now considering replacements for the Italian tactician, and one of the names reportedly on the list is Rangers boss Gerrard. The former England international midfielder has been in charge of Rangers since 2018 and guided the Gers to the Scottish Premiership title this season.

Rangers could also play in the Champions League next season, and it is hard to see Gerrard leave the Gers now. Moreover, the Englishman is a Liverpool …

According to , Manchester United are ready to step up their interest in Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund and try to bring him in during the winter transfer window.

The 19-year-old winger signed his first senior professional contract when he arrived to Signal Iduna Park in 2017 from Manchester City, and since then his talent has come to the full light of day. He has so far scored 18 goals and laid on a further 31 assists in the black-and-yellow shirt, and he is now a senior England international.

Apparently, United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was alerted to the possibility of snatching Sancho from Dortmund by the recent disciplinary issues, when he was fined and dropped for returning late from international duty. Sancho would fit in perfectly with United s long-term strat…

Academy graduate Paul Dummett has signed a new contract at Newcastle United that could run to 2022.

The 26-year-old defender has become a key man at St James Park under Rafael Benitez, having debuted in 2013, featuring 45 times in his side s Championship-winning campaign last term before suffering an injury on the opening day of the Premier League season.

Newcastle s form has improved since Dummett s return to the side in December, with the Tyneside-born Wales international playing a part in Sunday s 1-0 win over Manchester United.

Benitez told the club s official website: If you talk about players that are important for the team, normally people talk about goalscorers, midfielders and number 10s but, in modern football, there are not too many consistent left-sid…

Mauricio Pochettino declared it difficult to rate Paris Saint-Germain s season after a record-equalling Ligue 1 title followed Champions League disappointment.

PSG held a slender 1-0 advantage heading to Real Madrid in the Champions League last-16 second leg before doubling their advantage in the return fixture, but a Karim Benzema-inspired second-half turnaround dumped Pochettino s side out the competition.

Questions circulated and still remain over the future of Pochettino at PSG, who replaced Thomas Tuchel at the helm in January 2021.

Former Tottenham boss Pochettino may have somewhat eased the pressure by clinching PSG s 10th league title, but the Argentine admitted it is hard to judge the success of the season.

It s very difficult to rate the season…